Reviews and Comments

This murder mystery vividly portrays how Indigenous children are taken away at some pretext or the other and their lives destroyed by social workers. Unfortunately, it has a way of centering a white kind cop which to me feels like making a myth of friendly cops and so I do not love that.

I have been more interested recently in murder mysteries that are set in different genres as I cannot tolerate reading any murder mystery involving sympathetic cop / detective. This is a murder mystery based on fantasy that punches up and involves a satisfying victory of the poor over the rich.

The key takeaways for me: - Organize in groups based on actions you take with those things. E.g. have a coffee station with ground coffee, French press, coffee mugs. Or group all stuff that is used for breakfast together - Label these groups! Very important. Otherwise you wouldn't know how you grouped them. - Dont stuff in things unless they belong to the group. This means your shelves will be a little sparse as the stuff gets used. DO NOT FILL IT WITH OTHER THINGS - Make sure you have a place to put every item you buy BEFORE you buy it. It's a good way to curb my shopaholic tendencies.

Also TIL Arizona gov Katie Hobbs used to help run a domestic violence shelter

TIL police jail victims of sexual assault or other violent crime to force them to testify against abusers.

These stories give a more full depiction of the horror visited upon the Iraqis with the American invasion. One story is about a man who leaves a mental asylum not knowing who he is – other than what is in his file – because the Americans demolished the walls thinking it was a military facility. Another is about how horrific it was to be a woman under the Baathist regime to be a leftist person who does not believe in Baathist regime ideals. I learned how close Iraq is to Iran and started looking for news about both the countries. I learned 3 Iraqi women who were influencers have been killed in Iraq www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/27/iraqi-tiktok-star-om-fahad-shot-dead-in-baghdad-night-attack and how Iran began a crackdown on women who did not cover their heads at the same time they launched their missiles on Israel military targets. www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/apr/24/iranian-women-violently-dragged-from-streets-by-police-amid-hijab-crackdown

I had to skip multiple pages because there were too many words like "dialectic", "Anthroposemeiosis" (I refuse to learn this word) but this book is a grim documentation of how Tamils were failed by so many people including fellow tamils and how casteism is such a big barrier to unity among Tamils. I was also, once again, shocked by the tame demands of Tamils who fought united with the Sinhalese for freedom and how the anti-tamil riots of 1983 opened their eyes to how they will never be equal to the Sinhalese. The increased violence only made Tamils violent with each other as commanders tried to subjugate their troops with violence. There is so much trauma among the tamil diaspora of refugees from Sri Lanka.

I was compelled to complete this book. This book describes CSA and is set in the 70s Washington DC but called "Kingdoms" and so feels very mystical and lush. I really enjoyed the sentences peppered throughout the book.

I really enjoyed reading this especially about Bokashi composting which can compost OIL. I have not been making a lot of fried things because I didn't know how to use up the oil that remained. Here is a great in-kitchen process that can do it. All you have to do is to mix it up with some browny material like wood chips, cardboard, paper and soil after to fully let it decompose. Decided to buy myself a copy for reference.

I love how practical this book is. A lot of the recipes share ingredients that make short work of making these as weekly meals and there is enough recommendation for how to save the leftovers for later. Lots of vegetarian dishes as well. There are some assumptions about cooking made so it's not for the very beginner but the eagle eyed can YouTube these actions and make these meals. I loved Avocado pesto, soy veg momos I made so far.

While "Glory Be" is very upper class and fancy, this is more a working class mystery sequel to a non-mystery fiction. I didn't read the first in the series and it was still very interesting. Some homophobia and racism in the book though not sure the homophobia was warranted. It felt very cozy and lovely read.

Love Lev A C Rosen's historical mystery set in SF. I am still upset I had to learn from this book about whites only gay clubs. Here is the Facebook page of one of the whites only clubs that inspired the one in the book. Can you see any indication it was whites only? www.facebook.com/GLBTHistory/posts/jacks-baths-was-one-of-san-franciscos-longest-running-bathhouses-in-operation-fr/10152233415061176/

The mystery is perfect & the romance is not too sappy. Highly recommend for the great atmosphere created of SF in the 50s, the huge presence of Navy & its impact on San Francisco.

Why is it that I have to learn from a murder mystery that there were several "whites only" gay bars in San Francisco? Not a single history I have ready of gay bars in SF mention that fact explicitly.